Tag: Review

Brian Leaf’s book is smartly done!  ~ Sheila

Can you resist the allure of Edward’s myriad charms—his ochre eyes and tousled hair, the cadence of his speech, his chiseled alabaster skin, and his gratuitous charm? Will you hunt surreptitiously and tolerate the ceaseless deluge in Forks to evade the sun and uphold the facade? Join Edward and Bella as you learn more than 600 vocabulary words to improve your score on the *SAT, ACT®, GED®, and SSAT® exams!

Use this workbook side-by-side with your own copy of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight!
• Each chapter of the workbook gives you eight words taken from Twilight, with page references for you to read the words in the context of your favorite novel
• Define the words on your own before turning back to the workbook for their actual definitions
• At the end of each section you’ll take SAT, ACT, GED, and SSAT drills and quizzes to review and integrate what you’ve learned
• Plus, you’ll learn synonyms, Latin word parts, and memorization tools throughout the workbook

Honestly?  I think this is brilliant!  What a clever way Brain Leaf has put together here to learn great vocabulary words and actually make learning fun.  Right from page 1 you have the words from the book Twilight with the page number provided to look it up.  AT this stage of the book you are to write down what the word might mean.  Flip to the next page and the definitions are there so you can see how you did.  From there you move on to synonyms for each word, choosing analogies, and sentence completion.  I had a wonderful time going through this workbook page by page and seeing what I did and did not know.

“Did I learn from this book?“ I would think would be a question you may be asking.  The answer is yes.  Even words that I thought I had a good grasp on, I discovered in a few cases I did not quite hold their correct meaning.  When I read Twilight I did not notice the words that were put into use but now as I see how they are used in Defining Twilight, I am even more impressed with Stephanie Meyer’s work.

For a person who is a lover of words… this was a great exercise for me and I would think if you have a YA in your life who is a fan of Twilight, this is a great companion read that could be very beneficial.

About Brian Leaf

Brian Leaf, M.A., is the author of  six books, including Defining Twilight and the four-book SAT and ACT test-prep series McGraw-Hill’s Top 50 Skills. He is Director of the New Leaf Learning Center in Massachusetts, and has provided SAT, ACT, GED, SSAT, and GRE preparation to thousands of students from throughout the United States.

My Amazon Review

I received my copy of this book for review from Author Brian Leaf

It is people like Austin Gutwein who inspire me to be a better person.  ~  Sheila

Only God could weave a story that would captivate people all over the world, bring thousands of people from seventeen countries to a free-throw line, raise over a million dollars in international AIDS relief, and build a school and medical clinic in Zambia.

And only God do it through the hands of a nine-year-old boy.

What an amazing story of what a difference one person can make!  Austin’ story is one that made my heart sore.  I love true stories of young people doing things that those two, three, or four times their age have not attempted.  There is something pure int hat kind of thinking and that is what I found within this book – within Austin himself.

This past September I had the opportunity to take part in a bike ride that raised money for children with AIDS.  It was one of those experiences that caused me to step away from my own life and really take a look at what is going on around me.  It was life changing and I am so ready and willing to do it again.  This book, Austin’s story, brings me back to that moment – a moment of seeing things that often are overlooked.

At the end of each chapter are questions to ponder, scripture to think on… and a task to do.  The task could be send a card to someone you know who is ill, connecting with an old friend – all the way to putting together your own Hoops of Hope event.

I found this book to be a wonderful reminder of the power that each of us has within us.  When we think there is nothing possibly that we could do – we need to remember we dont know the power of a smile to someone who is desperately hurting, we dont know the power of a kind word to a stranger, and we do not know what picking up the phone and calling that person who has been on our heart lately will not only do for that person – but for you as well.

Click here for Austin’s Blog

My Amazon Review

I received my review copy from Thomas Nelson

Oh wow – this book is like a step back in time… suddenly I was filled with wonderful memories of childhood toys and games and the friends that gathered around them!  ~  Sheila

We all had a favorite toy or game growing up.  Those toys usually have memories attached to them… bringing up an image to said toy can bring along with it memories of our youth, the home we played with them in as well as the people who were a part of this time.

Arranged in chronological order, this book is a delight for any one – any age.   As I looked through this book I was filled with nostalgia, for games such as Candy Land, Slinky, Silly Putty…

Each game/toy has the year it was originally made, the packaging as it changed through the years, and it’s creator.  I enjoyed reading this book literally page by page absorbing all the facts behind my favorites and seein g the brilliance that was behind favorites like Scrabble:

Alfred Butts was the creator of Scrabble (originally called Lexico (1931-1938) and the n Criss-Cross(1938-1947).  In1931 Butts made sets of this game by hand and sold them to friends and acquaintances.  More significantly, he tried to license his creation with Milton Bradley and Parker Brothers and both rejected him. Butts assigned each letter a face value based on its occurrence in every day language.  He gave the Q and Z 10 point values.  By using this criteria there should have been more S’s in the game than Butt’s had introduced, but he correctly surmised that the game would be too unbalanced if easy points were often scored by pluralizing.  He shrewdly added two blank tiles, which could be used for any letter the player wanted.  By 1953, to fill the demand, 150,000 Scrabble tiles were made daily.

This book is a true treasure that I will keep on my bookshelf for reference for years to come.  My whole family enjoyed looking through this book and sharing facts on our favorites and I am sure yours will too!

My Amazon Review

I received my review copy of this book from author Tim Walsh

I laughed out loud at some of the “spoofy” comments…. ~  Sheila

About three things I was absolutely certain. First, Edwart was most likely my soul mate, maybe. Second, there was a vampire part of him–which I assumed was wildly out of his control–that wanted me dead. And third, I unconditionally, irrevocably, impenetrably, heterogeneously, gynecologically, and disreputably wished he had kissed me.

And thus Belle Goose falls in love with the mysterious and sparkly Edwart Mullen in the Harvard Lampoon’s hilarious send-up of Twilight.

Pale and klutzy, Belle arrives in Switchblade, Oregon looking for adventure, or at least an undead classmate. She soon discovers Edwart, a super-hot computer nerd with zero interest in girls. After witnessing a number of strange events–Edwart leaves his tater tots untouched at lunch! Edwart saves her from a flying snowball!–Belle has a dramatic revelation: Edwart is a vampire. But how can she convince Edwart to bite her and transform her into his eternal bride, especially when he seems to find girls so repulsive?

While this book had its funny moments and there were quite a few:

• Making fun of Belle’s seemingly irresistibly to the male species from every classmate all the way to the mailman….

• Belle’s mother’s obsession by emailing her 40 times to see if she is alright…

• How Edwart would not be able to resist Belle’s blood (her’s was grapefruit scented!)

But honestly for the most part… the humor was a bit lame… the story line (I wont give it away but Edwart is not a vampire after all) is dull and I found myself skipping pages just to see where it all ends up.

While fun to skim through and I did laugh out loud at times…this book would make for a funny gift for the Twilight Fan…. but I would classify it as just that – a gag gift.

My Amazon Review

I received this book from my son Justin for Christmas

“Thanks Justin!”

A keepsake book that will be a hit year after year!  ~ Sheila

By: Elsbeth Claus, David Wenzel
Product ISBN: 9781402211058

Every year millions of letters to Santa reach the North Pole. Many are requests for presents. And many letters have questions about Santa, the elves and workshops, the reindeer, and, of course, the North Pole.

Now Mrs. Claus has her own gift for you – for the first time ever, she’s taking a break from her very busy schedule to answer real questions from children of all ages. Join her on a tour of the North Pole and learn some of the best kept secrets of Christmas from the person who knows it all – Mrs. Claus!

Each question is accompanied by the colorful illustrations of David T. Wenzel, whose projects have included the Christmas bestseller Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer by Robert L. May and the visualization of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit as illustrated in graphic novel format.

A big beautiful book that was exciting to pull off the shelf.  Page by page the questions are posted by the children with care…. and Mrs. Claus has the answers to share!

Dear, Mrs. Claus, what are their favorite songs?  It’s safe to say pretty much all the Christmas carols, of course.  Then there are quite a few favorites that are in the old Elfin languages, which I can;t include here because the letters don’t exist on my keyboard.  Elves love to sing rounds too, but you won’t catch Elves singing mushy love songs.

Fascinating and fun pictures that I enjoyed so much I know that the little ones would!

Great questions that the kids want to know…. Mrs. Claus has the answers!

I love oversize books and this large Christmas read is perfect for an evening of hot cocoa and a cookie or two.

My Amazon Review

This review copy is from Sourcebooks

Patterson sets the bar high for audios everywhere .  ~ Sheila

Over this past year I have had the opportunity to listen to some wonderful audios.  I have really found a liking not only for James Patterson’s books, but for the very impressive readers that take on the character roles on his audios.  This one, Run For Your Life, took my experience of audio to a whole new level.

In this read, Detective Mike Bennett finds himself in the middle of a case with bizarre random killings happening with increased frequency throughout New York.  As Mike tries to put the clues  together while putting in long hours on the job, he finds no rest at home as his ten (yes ten) kids all under the age of 12 have the flu. Told with fascinating scenes that take you from fear to laughter ( wait until the family cat scene!) in such a pace that you feel that you are trapped inside a fun house that you are not entirely sure you want out of.

With Dallas Roberts and Bobby Cannavale alternating the viewpoints of Detective Mike and of our killer…. this was an extreme audio that kept me on my toes.  With the sound of gunshots bringing the read to life I was captivated from the start.  When chapter 41 started,  the readers voice was so intense and creepy my skin tingled with chills and anticipation.

By the time I had made it to the 5th CD, the audio had left my car and entered my home as I could no longer wait to hear what would happen next.

Highly recommended – if you have not tried audio before, this is a great place to start.  If you have not read Patterson ever or even lately, I suggest you take a look at what this incredible author is doing.  He is quickly making his way to the top of my favorite authors list.

My Amazon Review

I won my copy of the audio from J Kaye’s Book Blog